Clipping Baby Nails

This is seriously worth a post. I can’t believe after almost 2 years of enduring this responsibility I have not written about it. We first cut Scarlett’s nails when she was 6 weeks old. It did not go well. On the final finger, “we” clipped her cuticle and blood came flooding out. Or so it seemed, as I fashioned a tiny bandage. My husband (the holder of the clippers) was beside himself. I took a different approach, I figured it was bound to happen.

Since then, I have been the sole nail clipper. And the older and more wiggly she gets, the more challenging this becomes. I try to do this when Scarlett is at her most agreeable. If she is sitting in her high chair immediately after a meal.

Usually, I wait for her to fall asleep. Not at night, because the flashlight makes her roll around.  I found the easiest way to clip little nails is to always be ready to seize the moment. I have seized the moment in her stroller at the park, while she was in a shopping cart in the parking lot of TJ Mazz, parked outside an Asian supermarket. Today, I crouched on the ground to cut her toe nails while she brushed her teeth. It may not be the proudest of moments but I like to think of it as effective grooming.

The bottom line is, I carry nail clippers with me everywhere. I keep them in my purse, the stroller, the bedroom, if the opportunity arises and Scarlett is approaching the Guinness Book of Records for nail legnth, I seize the moment.

I find that as she sleeps in her car seat is best. I wait patiently for those opportunities. My biggest question is why doesn’t a company make baby nail clippers on a key fob?

 

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